But seriously...if you want to be a good practicing physician you're better off at yale or another school. Duke does a great job at training physician-scientists...not necessarily practicing physicians. And if you want to have a life outside medical school, Duke students are run into the ground, especially during the intensive first year, where Yale students have more free time and better things to do to enjoy that free time.
Having been a Duke med student, been involved in the med school admissions process at Duke, and now being a Duke house officer, I must disagree with the above unfair assertions. As it was said earlier in the post, the clinical training at Duke hospital is actually far superior to Yale. Although the Yale undergrad name is quite powerful, its med school isn't nearly as great, and its hospital is DEFINITELY not. Ask most any residency program director in just about any program (and I've spoken to many), and odds are you'll hear that Duke is a far better place to train compared to Yale, no matter what field you're interested in. Plus, a better hospital/health center = better residents, and guess who you learn the most from when you're on the wards? The house staff! Although Yale is certainly a great medical school, it's still much easier to make the case that Duke students get much better clinical training for the above reasons. Plus, Duke students do much better on average on the boards, and it's tough to argue with that as a benchmark, since it's used by residency programs as well (although it admittedly has its limitations).
I also must disagree about the "free time" issue. Although Duke has just one preclinical year, it's unfair to assume that Duke students thus work twice as hard and have half as much free time, or are somehow "run into the ground" as you claim. In fact, as I've pointed out countless times on this board (do a search and you'll see), the Duke curriculum cuts out almost half of what other schools cover in their preclinical courses (and for good reason, because it's not covered on the boards, and you learn it on the wards anyway, which makes it stick much better). In addition, the Duke first year is almost 12 months long, compared to the usual 9 or so months at a traditional medical school. This means the pace is actually quite similar, as is the workload, and there's still plenty of vacation time. Having talked to countless medical students from across the country, I promise you that Duke students work just as much as anyone else, but not significantly more so.
Finally, having lived in Durham for over 5 years now, I could go on and on about its merits. Sure, it's not a big city, so if that's what you're looking for then look elsewhere, but it's a fantastic town with lots to offer. The cost of living here is absurdly low, so life as a student or resident is MUCH more comfortable than it would be elsewhere. You can afford to have a car here, housing is obscenely cheap, and you can even buy a house/townhome and make some money in the process! There are tons of great restaurants, good night-life in Chapel Hill and Raleigh, both of which are within 15 minutes by car, and easy accessibility to beaches and mountains. And despite what you'll hear about crime here, Durham is actually a very safe place to live.
If you're thinking about Duke, the most important thing to consider is the curriculum. You need to figure out how you learn best, and see if our curriculum fits you. If you're a hands-on learner who needs the context of patients to best learn medicine, then Duke is ideal, as you'll get on the wards a whole year sooner, which makes an enormous difference. In my experience, having worked with residents from other med schools, it makes Duke students stronger by the end of 4th year than students from many peer institutions. But if, on the other hand, you're someone who needs group learning, and wants PBL, then Duke is not the place for you.
